Letter 3172 does not ask you for anything. It does not threaten anything. It reads like a formality. That is exactly why people set it aside, and exactly why they lose the most valuable right it gives them.
The letter is your notice that the IRS has filed a Notice of Federal Tax Lien, and it opens a short window to request a Collection Due Process hearing on that filing. Miss the window and you can still ask for a lesser hearing, but you give up Tax Court review and other protections. Here is what the letter is and how to count the days.
What the law requires the IRS to tell you
IRC 6320(a) requires the IRS to notify you in writing of the filing of a notice of lien under section 6323. The notice must be given in person, left at your dwelling or usual place of business, or sent by certified or registered mail to your last known address, not more than five business days after the day of filing.
Section 6320(a)(3) lists what the notice must include, "in simple and nontechnical terms":
- the amount of unpaid tax;
- your right to request a hearing during the 30-day period beginning on the day after the five-day period;
- the administrative appeals available and the procedures for them;
- the provisions and procedures relating to release of liens; and
- the passport certification provisions of section 7345.
The IRS uses Letter 3172, Notice of Federal Tax Lien Filing and Your Rights to a Hearing Under IRC 6320, to satisfy that requirement. IRM 5.12.6.3.5 calls it the "CDP notice" and lists its enclosures: a copy of Form 668(Y)(c), Publication 594, Publication 1450, Publication 1660 and Form 12153.
Counting the deadline
This is the part people get wrong. The 30 days do not start on the date of the letter. Treasury Regulation 301.6320-1(c)(2), Q&A-C3, says you must submit a written request "within the 30-day period that commences the day after the end of the five business day period following the filing of the NFTL." A request filed during the five-business-day period is treated as filed on the first day of the 30-day period.
The regulation walks through an example. A notice was filed on a Thursday, June 17. The five-business-day period ended the following Thursday, June 24. The 30-day period began on June 25 and ended on Saturday, July 24, so under the weekend rule a properly mailed request was timely through Monday, July 26.
The IRS does the math for you. IRM 5.12.6.3.6 says the CDP notice must state the response due date. Use the date printed on the letter, mark it on your calendar, and plan to mail well before it.
Rules that do not bend
- Late receipt does not extend it. The regulation's examples say that a taxpayer on vacation or out of the country who reads the letter late still has the same deadline.
- Living abroad does not extend it. Q&A-C5 says the 30-day period is not extended because you reside outside the United States.
- Talking to the IRS does not extend it. Q&A-C9 encourages you to discuss the lien with the collection employee, but says those discussions do not suspend or extend the 30-day period.
The timely-mailing rules of sections 7502 and 7503 apply under Q&A-C4, so a request properly mailed by the deadline counts. Use certified mail and keep the receipt.
There is one narrow safety valve. The Appeals manual, IRM 8.22.5.3.2, now says the 30-day deadline to request a CDP hearing is subject to equitable tolling based on the facts and circumstances, but only if the taxpayer proves both diligence and extraordinary circumstances beyond the taxpayer's control. That is a rescue argument for genuinely unusual situations. It is not a second deadline.
How to request the hearing
The request must be in writing. Q&A-C1 says it must be dated and include your name, address, daytime phone number, taxpayer identification number, the type of tax, the tax period, a statement that you request a hearing with Appeals about the lien filing, the reasons you disagree, and your signature or your authorized representative's signature. The IRS encourages use of Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing, and it comes enclosed with the letter.
Send it to the address on the CDP notice. If something is missing, the regulation gives you a reasonable time to fix it after the IRS asks, and the request stays timely. But do not count on that. Fill out the form completely, and check the boxes for the issues and alternatives you want Appeals to consider.
One more requirement worth knowing: section 6320(b)(1) says the hearing is held if you request it in writing "and state the grounds for the requested hearing." Write down your reasons. "I disagree" is not a reason.
Why the CDP hearing is worth requesting
A timely request gets you a hearing before the IRS Independent Office of Appeals, with an officer who has had no prior involvement with the tax, unless you waive that. Section 6320(c) imports the hearing rules of section 6330, including:
- Verification by Appeals that the IRS followed applicable law and administrative procedure in filing the notice.
- The right to raise relevant issues, including spousal defenses, challenges to the appropriateness of the filing, and collection alternatives.
- In some cases, the right to challenge the underlying liability itself.
- A balancing determination: whether the filing balances the need for efficient collection against your legitimate concern that collection be no more intrusive than necessary.
- The right to petition the Tax Court within 30 days of the determination.
I cover each issue in what you can raise at a CDP lien hearing. Withdrawal of the notice is one of the remedies Appeals can consider; see the four grounds for lien withdrawal.
What a lien hearing does not do
A lien CDP hearing does not stop levies. Q&A-G3 of the regulation explains that levy actions are not the subject of a section 6320 hearing, and the IRS may levy for the same periods if it has satisfied the separate levy-notice requirements of section 6330. If you are facing both a lien filing and a levy notice, IRM 5.12.2 notes that the IRS may issue both notices together so the hearings can be combined, and the regulation says hearings under the two sections are held together where practicable.
A timely request does suspend the collection statute. Under Q&A-G1, the periods of limitation under sections 6502, 6531 and 6532 are suspended from the date the IRS receives your written request until the determination becomes final or you withdraw the request, and they cannot expire before the 90th day after that. That is a real cost if your collection statute is close to expiring. Weigh it.
One hearing per period
Section 6320(b)(2) gives you only one hearing for the tax period covered by the notice. Under the regulation, that is tied to the first notice filed for that period. IRM 5.12.6.3.5 explains that if the IRS files another notice in a different county for the same periods, a new Letter 3172 is not issued for those periods. If it files a new notice that adds an additional assessment, such as additional tax from an audit, you get CDP rights for the new assessment only.
If you already missed it
You are not out of options. You can request an equivalent hearing within one year after the end of the five-business-day period, and you can use the Collection Appeals Program. Both are covered in the equivalent hearing for liens.
Letter 3172 is quiet. The deadline is not.
If you received the letter today, the most productive thing you can do is find the response date, decide what you want Appeals to do, and get a complete Form 12153 in the mail with time to spare. Knowledge is protection, but only if it shows up before the deadline.